Holyoke Mall at Ingleside facts for kids
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| Location | Holyoke, Massachusetts, United States |
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| Address | 50 Holyoke Street |
| Opening date | July 5, 1979 |
| Owner | The Pyramid Companies |
| No. of stores and services | 135 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 11 (9 open, 2 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 1,600,000 sq ft (150,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 3: Upper Level Lower Level and food court |
The Holyoke Mall at Ingleside (a.k.a. Holyoke Mall) is a shopping center located in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in the city's Ingleside neighborhood. It is owned by The Pyramid Companies. The mall features 135 stores, a large food court, and several restaurants and is 1.6 million square feet, the second-largest in New England by retail space.
The mall has four parking garages and used to feature unique architecture such as wood paneling, wooden benches, a dome with purple lights, a box-spiral staircase with holes that leads to the Café Square level, and a stone-shafted elevator. The mall underwent cosmetic upgrades in 2015, which included new floors, lighting, and benches throughout the mall. Located near the interchange of I-90 and I-91, the Holyoke Mall is one of the primary shopping destinations in Western Massachusetts and attracts many out-of-state visitors.
Anchor tenants include: Macy's, JCPenney, Target, Best Buy, Christmas Tree Shops, Round 1, Hobby Lobby, Burlington, and soon to be Cinemark. There are vacant anchors left be A.C.Moore, Sears, and Sports Authority.
History
The mall opened in 1979 with G. Fox, JCPenney, Sears, and Steiger's as the original anchors. Plans for the mall were approved in 1973, with $1.2 million granted for construction. Before construction on the mall began, the main access road, Whiting Farms Road, was extended and referred to as the "road to nowhere" by critics before opening. The mall had also opened with 125 retail stores and an eight-screen theater located in the basement alongside the food court. The mall was expanded (and slightly renovated) in 1995, adding an entirely new wing to the mall with a relocated G. Fox (later Filene's, now Macy's) being constructed at the end, as well as some of the first in-mall locations for Toys "R" Us and Christmas Tree Shops. At the time it was expanded, it was billed as the largest mall in New England. Around this time Lord & Taylor announced a location to open at the mall by November 1993. Pyramid in 1998 proposed a 1,400,000-square-foot (130,000 m2) expansion that would have added a 20-screen cinema complex, but this attempt was blocked by the city. Lord & Taylor closed citing market conditions in early 2005. Filene's closed in September 2006 and rebranded as Macy's due to the Federated Department Stores and May Department Stores. In August 2007, Apple opened a store. Pottery Barn and Sephora opened stores in the mall in 2008. Pottery Barn opened up in part of the upper floor of the former Lord & Taylor store. In April 2009, Forever 21 considerably expanded their store (it became a flagship store XXI Forever) in the lower floor of the vacant Lord & Taylor; the upper floor was subdivided. At the time it was the largest Forever 21 in Massachusetts. Sports Authority closed in 2016 after filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy. On November 28, 2017, it was announced that a Cinemark movie theater would be coming to the mall; the location is set to open on the upper level in the former Sears in 2021. In April 2018, the Babies "R" Us closed permanently. Forever 21 moved into a smaller space on the upper level near JCPenney and Best Buy on July 21, 2018. On August 22, 2018, Sears announced that its store would be closing as part of a plan to close 46 stores nationwide. The store closed on November 25, 2018. On March 23, 2019, Round 1 Entertainment opened a location in the former Forever 21.
